Effects of negative semantics in product design

This study investigated four types of negative semantics (sadness, anger, disgust, fear) and their implications for product design. A total of 66 product images that had negative semantics were evaluated by 66 subjects. The results revealed that product designs containing negative meanings could spark curiosity and surprise. Disgust designs were discovered to have similar effects to fear designs, causing subjects to feel pain and that the design was beyond their tolerance. However, the fear designs had more connotations of practicality, focus, and energy than the disgust designs. Furthermore, the sadness semantics were identified as contrary to anger. The sadness designs were practical, made people feel focused and energized, enabled contemplation, and did not cause feelings of pain or were beyond the participants' tolerance; however, this was not true of the anger designs. The results demonstrated that product design with negative semantics can be beneficial and that design involving sadness semantics is worthy of further study in particular